Statement

We bring to your attention the case of Sunil Hemachandra, a 28-year-old rubber taper who recently won a lottery but who thereafter died in the General Hospital in Colombo on July 26 from injuries received at the Moragahahena police station. The relatives allege that in the days preceding his arrest he had been approached and […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea (ROK),  Ms. Kang, Kum-sil, has given a guideline to the prison officers to prohibit consecutive solitary confinement in prisons in June 2003 after a inmate who was in solitary confinement at Andong Prison committed suicide in May […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) renews its earlier demand to the administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to drop its proposed national security laws to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-Constitution. The protest march yesterday was a clear message that […]

REPUBLIC OF KOREA: Torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners  must end immediately Prisoner kept in handcuffs and in a straitjacket for 466 days  in violation of ROK’s international obligations 27 June 2003 AS-22-2003 A Statement By the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that JEONG Phil-ho has […]

The ongoing military operation by the Indonesian government against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) raises great concern. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received increasing number of reliable reports that about 200 persons have been killed and almost 40,000 civilians been displaced since military operations which began on 19 May 2003 intended to wipe […]

An Approach Different to The Organized Crimes Bill   10 June 2003 AS-20-2003   A Statement By the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC A Special Operation Unit (SOU), established under the instruction of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to bust organised crimes, commenced its service officially last week. The SOU comprises 30 members […]

The military rulers of Burma have in this past week again shown that their pretensions to human rights and political change are utterly fraudulent. The Asian Human Rights Commission has received with concern increasingly reliable reports that at least 70 persons were killed in the attacks on members and supporters of the National League for […]

Thailand’s dangerous slide into barbarism The six migrant workers murdered in Thailand this week were the victims of a monster that threatens to consume an entire society and its democracy. The monster was let loose by the current government when in February it launched a “war on drugs” and granted the police a licence to […]

In November 2000 the Government of India set up the Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System, purportedly to fairly assess and propose changes to the way criminal trials are conducted in India. This April, the true objectives of the Committee have been revealed. A summary of its 158 recommendations shows that despite its […]

Due to harassment by militia gangs and political elites connected to the Soeharto military rule, Indonesia’s first preliminary investigations into the 1965-66 Massacre and the 1998 May Riot by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) are both in danger of being shelved.  The Commission was given a limited six-month timeframe to complete these inquiries.  […]

The right to life is at the centre of all human rights, and all efforts of the community should be geared toward its protection and promotion. All medical, nutritional, environmental, educational and legal services of the community should promote and uphold this sublime right to life. The people in the medical profession, particularly those that […]

A Comment by the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC The killing of the Hamer family in Dehiwela in Sri Lanka has added to the list of horrible crimes that are taking place in the country on almost a daily basis. The murder of the 79-year-old father, 35-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter took place in […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission Since 2000, the Kwangju Human Rights Award is presented yearly in honor of the 1980 Kwangju Uprising, where the Kwangju people fought against the military take over of their country and 240 Kwangju citizens were martyred for the cause.  The award  ris presented to a person who […]

Burma is a fertile country with abundant resources. In years gone by it was said that nobody ever starves in Burma. This has long ceased to be the case. Empirical evidence suggests that every day millions of people there go hungry, hundreds of thousands are seriously malnourished, and that some are indeed starving. This May, […]

——————–The justice system of Sri Lanka: What a damn mess—————— A Bill entitled Prevention of Organized Crime was gazetted on 24 January 2003. There was hardly any publicity to the Bill and thus there was no public debate on the matter. The speaker presented it to the Supreme Court for opinion on constitutionality and two […]

Ambedkar’s Anniversary 2003 The work of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been very much influenced by the work of B. R. Ambedkar, who in recent history was the undisputed leader of the Dalits (formally called Untouchables) and perhaps the most far-reaching thinker about democratisation in South Asia. It is the latter aspect upon […]

The people of Iraq have endured a war of great cruelty in the name of their liberation. What they now get is not liberation but colonialism, which is worse than tyranny and war combined.  Having been offered no part in all this, other than as a cheer squad, people have responded by grabbing whatever they […]

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC Why has the rule of law been made a victim of Thailand’s anti-drug campaign? Since February, when the government of Thailand opened the way for alleged drug traffickers to be murdered with impunity, over 2000 persons have been killed. This relentless carnage poses an enormous […]

HONG KONG, Friday, April 4, 2003: The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today awarded a torture victim a record amount in compensation. In the case of Gerald Perera, who was tortured by a group of police of the Wattala station on June 3, 2002, the Court awarded 800,000 Rupees cash, and full medical costs. Mr […]

In the addendum to his 2003 report to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Mr. Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy stated that he continues to be concerned over the allegations of misconduct on the part of the Chief Justice [of Sri Lanka] Sarah Silva, the latest being […]